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Charles Bertrand Powell (1859-1923)
Charles Bertrand "C. B." Powell was a son of Dr. John Armstrong Powell and Julia Ann Sinclair. He was born in Washington, AR, probably the Washington in Hempstead Co. At a young age, the family relocated to Iuka, Tishomingo Co., MS, to live near C. B.'s recently widowed grandmother, Anne Thweatt Hutchings Powell. At the age of 18, C. B. became a lawyer and moved to Helena, Phillips Co., AR, to work with his distant cousin, Judge P. O. Thweatt. As a prominent member of St. John's Episcopal Church in Helena, I am sure he influenced C. B.'s religious affiliation. I still have a book of poetry with the following typed on one of the first pages: "C. B. Powell, Helena, Arkansas, September 9, 1885". But in 1887, a new city beckoned him away from Helena. "Relatives" in the new city of Birmingham, AL (founded 1871) are said to have needed a lawyer to work on the property transactions in the city. The country's economy was on the rise and Birmingham was experiencing a boom in real estate. Another of my relatives, Thomas Semmes Forbes also came to Birmingham that year. The opportunity was too good for the young lawyer and he departed for the new city. The next year, his parents and remaining siblings joined him. His grandmother had died two years before, so they felt free to move. Then, probably through legal contact with Judge Napoleon Bonaparte Mardis of nearby Columbiana, C. B. met Anna Louise Curtis. At 28, the schoolteacher had probably given up on marriage. But married they were on December 14, 1889, at the Shelby Springs resort just down the road from Columbiana. My father gave my mother their wedding band, which has their initials and the date inscribed. They settled in Birmingham where he was working. They would have 4 children and would at some point move into a large home on 14th Avenue South. By the early teens, C. B. kept his office in the Lyric Theater Building (18th St and 3rd AVe N), but later moved to the Title Guarantee Building (21 St and 3rd Ave N) across the street from the county courthouse at that time. C. B. became a fairly prominent lawyer. Unfortunately, things began to unravel a bit after his son C. B. returned home from a trip out of town with a wife. By 1920, the young couple had divorced, leaving two young daughters at his home. In 1921, he bought a cemetery plot, possibly due to his daughter Claire's severe illness. She died that year and was the first person buried there. In 1923, suffering from a severe illness himself, C. B. went in for an operation to potentially save his life. However, he died just days later. There were many honorary pallbearers at his funeral, many being his legal colleagues. He was prominent enough to have a very nice article with his picture in the local paper at his death (quite significant in 1923 Birmingham), but not so prominent that his memory lived on long after his demise. His death put a financial strain on his family. They managed to hold their own until the Great Depression, but during that time, their financial resources were exhausted, his son C. B. left town and the remaining family members struggled to make ends meet. His son Ivor, once a lawyer, found work at a meat packing facility. His granddaughter Chrystobel had to drop out of college. The social standing of the family was severely damaged, but not destroyed. Obituary of C. B. Powell C B POWELL DIES AFTER OPERATION; ILL TWO MONTHS Funeral services over the body of C. B. Powell, Sr., 64, prominent attorney of Birmingham for many years, who died at South Highlands Infirmary Tuesday night following an operation last Saturday, will be held from his late residence, 1031 Twelfth Avenue, South, Wednesday afternoon at 3 o'clock. Burial will be in Elmwood Cemetery. Pallbearers follow: Active: Frank L. Lollar, Hunter Armstrong, Russell Simmons, Hugh A. Locke, Judge Thomas R. Lea, and Perkins Prewitt. Honorary: L. J. Haley, George M. Howle, Judge William M. Walker, Judge C. B. Smith, Judge Romaine Boyd, Judge William E. Fort, Judge Joe C. Hall, Judge John Denson, Judge Richard V. Evans, Judge Harrington P. Heflin, Judge Roger W. Snyder, Judge Edgar Allen, Judge Henry J. Martin, Vassar L. Allen, L. B. Haley, Dr. C. W. Shropshire, C. P. Beddow, A. Lee Oberdorfer, G. D. Harsh, James G. Davis, Judge H. B. Abernathy, Forney W. Brandon, William J. Waldrop, J. D. Carlisle, Nathan L. Miller, James Weatherly, John D. Strange, Henry Upton Sims, Judge J. P. Stiles, H. M. Powell, George M. Edmonds, Frank M. Dominick, Woolsey Morrow, T. J. Shirley, Ernest Matthews, Thomas J. Judge, Clarence Mullins, Richard H. Fries, E. C. Crow, B. M. Allen, E. H. Cabaniss, John P. McCoy, M. B. Grace, Walter B. Brower, and J. Wiley Logan. Mr. Powell was operated on after a two-month illness in a final effort to save his life and though the operation was considered successful, he was not able to rally sufficiently, due to a weakened condition. Oxygen was resorted to throughout the afternoon Monday and up until the time of his death about 11 o'clock, but to no avail. Mr. Powell had been a resident of Birmingham for 40 years and had built up a large circle of friends throughout the city and county, in which he also enjoyed a lucrative practice. Always friendly and amiable, he easily won friends and held them and was known as much for his legal friendly counseling as for his legal advice. Born in Washington, Arkansas, in 1853, the son of Dr. and Mrs. John A. Powell, Mr. Powell as a boy, removed with his family to Iuka, Mississippi, where he spent his early youth and was admitted to the bar at the age of 18. After this, he went back to Arkansas, settling in Helena, where he practiced law with his uncle, Judge Threet. About this time, however, Birmingham was coming along as a "boom" town, and the fact that he had cousins here, one of them, James Powell, who was one of the founders of Birmingham and was known as the "Duke of Birmingham," caused him to decide to cast his lot with the new city, taking up residence in Elyton, or Old Birmingham. Throughout the years of his long practice here, Mr. Powell became known as one of the most versatile members of the Birmingham Bar and a keen student of history. Mr. Powell is survived by a widow and daughter, Miss Gladys Powell, two sons, C. B. Powell, Jr. And Iv Powell, all of Birmingham; two brothers, Albert Powell of Bessemer and Dudley Powell of Ensley, and two sisters, Mrs. Julia Terrell of Birmingham and Mrs. John Smith of Dallas, Texas, and a nephew, Harold Powell, attorney, of Birmingham. Children |- |colspan="5" bgcolor="#FFfce0" |'Charles Bertrand Powell and Anna Louise Curtis' References Visit to Elmwood Cemetery Obituary of C. B. Powell Examination of wedding band of C. B. Powell and A. L. Curtis Copy of Powell/Sinclair Family Bible Records Obituary of Gladys Powell Social Security Death Index at FamilySearch.org Memories of C. B. Powell as told to my parents 1887 Birmingham Business Directory (from Birmingham Public Library online) 1880 Bibb Co., AL Census Letters sent from C. B. Powell's offices Book of Heinrich Heine poetry with "C. B. Powell, Helena, Arkansas, Sept. 9, 1885" typed inside